BN_CTX_new(3)BN_CTX_new(3)NAME
BN_CTX_new, BN_CTX_init, BN_CTX_free - Allocate and free BN_CTX struc‐
tures
SYNOPSIS
#include <openssl/bn.h>
BN_CTX *BN_CTX_new(
void ); void BN_CTX_init(
BN_CTX *c ); void BN_CTX_free(
BN_CTX *c );
DESCRIPTION
A BN_CTX is a structure that holds BIGNUM temporary variables used by
library functions. Since dynamic memory allocation to create BIGNUMs is
rather expensive when used in conjunction with repeated subroutine
calls, the BN_CTX structure is used.
The BN_CTX_new() function allocates and initializes a BN_CTX structure.
The BN_CTX_init() function initializes an existing uninitialized
BN_CTX.
The BN_CTX_free() function frees the components of the BN_CTX, and if
it was created by BN_CTX_new(), also the structure itself. If
BN_CTX_start() has been used on the BN_CTX, BN_CTX_end() must be called
before the BN_CTX may be freed by BN_CTX_free().
RETURN VALUESBN_CTX_new() returns a pointer to the BN_CTX. If the allocation fails,
it returns NULL and sets an error code that can be obtained by
ERR_get_error().
The BN_CTX_init() and BN_CTX_free() functions have no return values.
HISTORY
The BN_CTX_new() and BN_CTX_free() functions are available in all ver‐
sions on SSLeay and OpenSSL. The BN_CTX_init() function was added in
SSLeay 0.9.1b.
SEE ALSO
Functions: bn(3), err(3), BN_add(3), BN_CTX_start(3)BN_CTX_new(3)